What’s the Significance of “23”?
By Pamela Gates
On the 23rd of every month, MOSES and EXPO members plan to gather from 12 to 12:30 pm on the State Street steps of the Capitol to draw attention to the fact that hundreds of people are being subjected to solitary confinement in Wisconsin’s prisons, and to demand that the state put an end this practice. The 23rd was chosen because people in solitary spend 23 hours alone in their cells every day. They spend the other hour someplace else, but also alone.
The United Nations has declared that solitary confinement for more than 15 days is torture. By that measure, we are torturing hundreds of people in Wisconsin prisons and jails. On April 30, 2024, 787 people were confined in solitary in Wisconsin’s prisons, and Wisconsin’s county jails use the practice as well. People are confined to solitary for various reasons, including breaking a prison rule, having a mental breakdown, or being perceived as a danger to themselves or others. Says WISDOM’s David Liners: “Wisconsin needs to join the states that have implemented the ‘Mandela Rule’ that limits the practice to 15 days, and that only for extraordinary circumstances.”
On May 23 members of JOSHUA gathered outside the Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI) to call attention to the 129 people confined in solitary at GBCI on that date; 81 had been there for over a month. Seven of those in solitary were acknowledged by the DOC to have “severe mental illness.”
On May 23 in Madison, about 15 people gathered to offer prayers for those in solitary and to deliver a letter to the Governor’s Office reminding Evers of his stated opposition to solitary confinement and demanding that he take tangible steps to put an end to it in Wisconsin.
On June 23, a Sunday, only two were there: Patti La Cross and Pam Gates. We talked with one couple at some length and otherwise held signs (“Solitary = Torture” and “End the Lockdown”) as people moved up and down the steps enjoying the beautiful surroundings and the beautiful day. (Ongoing lockdown measures at Green Bay, Waupun, and Stanley have mimicked the practice of solitary confinement to a significant degree. The excuse has been lack of staff, but releasing people who are eligible for release would solve that problem completely.)
You are invited to join the gathering at noon on the 23rd of each month on the State Street Capitol steps to remember, as Liners puts it, “some of the most isolated, marginalized, suffering people in Wisconsin.” To learn more or become further involved with this effort, email WISDOM Organizer Mark Rice at ricermark@gmail.com.
Note: This report relied heavily on a May 22 press release by WISDOM Executive Director David Liners for background information.